A Clash of Kings

SPOILERS: Possibly some spoilers from the first two books / TV series of A Song of Ice and Fire / A Game of Thrones.

CONTENT WARNING: Sexual violence

As per my review of 'A Game of Thrones' I should preface this review by stating that I am coming out these novels after watching, and being a huge fan of, the television series. Because I know the characters well and know the arc of the plot, including the major plot twists it is evident that my enjoyment of the novels have been curtailed somewhat. I am of the view that if I had read the books first I would rate them significantly higher in terms of my enjoyment.

'A Clash of Kings' picks up from 'A Game of Thrones' with three declared King's vying for the Iron Throne, plus a Queen in exile and a 'King of the North' all vying for power (with technically another self-styled King elsewhere and a new entrant to 'I think I am a King here too' appearing during the book). Like all good family feuds there is a good deal of bloodshed, betrayal and generally childish bickering as 'who gets to be King' is sorted out.

Of course, the world fleshed out by Martin is so wonderfully conceived. Building on the first book, the world is alive with characters of the nobility from Kings to minor knights who through a logical, yet complex web are all married to each other, fight with each other and have decades long alliances and scores to settle. Each chapter in the book is written from the perspective of a different character, most carried forward from the first book. I quite like this approach as one can really begin to see the motivations of the characters and what matters to them, and in a book which is so morally ambiguous, one of the best things about reading shitty things done by horrible people is the way the horrible person tries to justify it.

Carrying on from the first book I found myself really rooting for some of the characters and wishing them success, or just catching a break. Other characters I hated, or hated them then felt sorry for them. When the reader interprets the perspectives one cannot help but have a strong opinion - like when you want to shout, 'don't do that,' or 'stop, you're a fool!'. It's quite a lovely feeling when you find yourself caring about a character that you want to intervene on their behalf.

The characters are mostly all inter-related to each other, so a story for one impinges on the story of another. They are mostly well crafted and of a depth that helps you immerse in their world.

The other self-evident thing is that with these books Martin is playing a long game. Little seeds planted early in the novel (or even in the first book) spring to life later in the book. Little innocuous throw away moments by a minor character have massive significance later. The book is full of little threads and one of the delights is finding at a later point which one has been tugged. It's complex, and it's clever (perhaps to clever for it's own good).

I don't think there are as many gut punches as in the first book but there are a few moments that really got to me. I loved the introduction of Davos as a character. His loyalty screams out in a book of no loyalty and yet he is loyal to one who does not deserve it. Likewise, my favourite character in the book is Tyrion - he comes across as much nicer in the books and less morally 'grey' (and I say that as he masterminds the slaughter of thousands in a trap). I love his cleverness as he gets one up on all those on the Council who are spying on him and his desire to protect one he loves. The chapters when Davos and Tyrion's stories come into contact with each other hit home to me hard as I knew I wanted both to survive and no one to win. One of the last chapters in the book and it's absence of Tyrion hit me hard, knowing that despite all he had done, he was the hero and yet he was totally shunned. I've really got to like him in the books, with Arya a very close second.

Theon on the other hand is a total bastard, but not only is he a bastard, he's a stupid bastard. And not only is he a stupid ungrateful misogynistic bastard, I actually felt SORRY for him. One doesn't know whether to laugh or cry when he gets what's coming to him

One of the things I have noticed, reading a few reviews is how often people mentioned, 'I glazed over this character's chapters but I loved this character'. What's also notable is how those characters aren't the same for every reviewer. For me, I found the Daenerys chapters absolutely terminal. She does nothing apart from wander around a city being fawned on for an absolute waste of hundreds of pages.

Then of course it is obvious that Martin has viewed 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail' and laughed at the concept of 'Sir Not Appearing In This Film' because Robb Stark, such a major presence and a character with a clearly developing arc in the first book is completely absent in this one. Now I get there is a slow burn and there are many books to fill and not every character can have equal space but I think I would have been really annoyed if I had come to this before the TV show expecting to find out what happened to a major character who at the end of the first book was on a bit of a cliff-hanger which really doesn't get resolved.

Then there are the two brothers Stannis and Renly who were barely mentioned in the first book who are two of the Kings who spring up in the second book. Their interactions and their 'Clash' is such a disappointment which leads me to my two criticisms of the book.

I love the political intrigue, the horrible characters and the grim world. I love the teasing of the different plot threads but after getting through a good 1,000 pages I have come to the conclusion - not a lot happens in this book. Other than the battle for King's Landing there really isn't too much going on with these Kings and Queens. Everything feels like it is setting up something else for another book. I may be unkind but it feels like a bit of a cheat to read a book which is basically a bridge for another work.

My second criticism is the blatant misogyny and rape. I know what I am getting with 'grimdark' and I enjoy it as a genre. I like reading about bastards, back stabbing and bloodshed. Upsetting as it can be and challenging for readers I recognise the use of sexual violence as a plot device to depict the worst of people. I also recognise 'rape as a war crime' has plenty of real world examples for it to exist as a horror in fiction. However, it seems every other page has women being raped in graphic and gratuitous ways, but also in the most dismissive of ways too. Women are put in 'rape racks' for soldiers, another is raped fifty times, another is offered to one and is refused as 'smelling of dog shit'. There are multiple points in the book where a casual rape is thrown in for no purpose whatsoever It's almost continuous. I know Martin wants to create a horrible world where if you're poor it doesn't matter who is in charge because you're going to be raped, tortured, degraded anyway but the incessant barrage of this violence doesn't exactly desensitise one to it, but it does lose it's emotional impact.

This is compounded by the notion that every woman who is not noble has one job - that of 'whore'. Martin is also on his paedo kick on this book (Book 1 was all about the rape of 14 year old Daenerys). Book 2 has a major plot point which is 12 year Sansa Stark starting her menstrual cycle. It reminded me of when newspapers showed women with their tits out on Page 3 and the instances where they would 'count down' to when a child with big tits was 16 so they could 'legally' print the pictures. The 'flowering' of Sansa had the same energy for me.

And furthermore the 'smallfolk' (ie the people who grow the crops and work in the cities) are degraded and murdered at EVERY opportunity. They are not provided with a voice. They are depicted as savages, when they undergo the most horrible cruelty. If there is anyone underrepresented in the book it is the 'smallfolk' and one wishes they would rise up and chop the heads off every noble, every knight and every king in the whole book!

There is a lot to like in 'A Clash of Kings' but the pacing and some of the annoyances detract from what is quite a clever, intricate book.